Vermont developmental disabilities council warns draft federal cuts would curtail services and oversight

Kirsten Murphy, executive director of the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, told the House Appropriations Committee on April 25 that a leaked draft of the federal budget would zero out funding for state DD councils, protection-and-advocacy organizations and university disability centers, with immediate and downstream impacts for people with disabilities in Vermont.

Murphy said DD councils were established by Congress in 1970 and that the Vermont council currently receives the statutory minimum — “that is $526,000 a year” — to support council work across the state. She told the committee the council has been flat-funded for five years and receives essentially no state general funds, supporting three state positions and a public board that must include a majority of members with intellectual or developmental…